Letter to DWP On Work Programme.

It posts news and comments (many hundreds) on issues to do with unemployment, state benefits and schemes (such as the Flexible New Deal) which are said to help people back into work.

We have grave concerns about the new Work Programme.

A major one is that Minister, Lord David Freud, describes the new system as a “black box”. That in a speech to providers he said, “We are determined that the “black box” approach, as it has been called, will really mean that we will judge you by your results and pay you accordingly.”

Does this mean that there will no public scrutiny of how it works, its effects on participants, and its outcomes?

As a member of Ipswich Unemployed Action I would like to see any programme that affects the out-of-work operate with maximum openness.

16 Responses

To clarify a “black box” is a system which can only be viewed solely in terms of its input and output without any knowledge of its internal workings, hence my reference to the term “black box approach”.

If you require further clarification or indeed you have any further questions do do hesitate to contact me directly at
ministers@@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

The term blackbox has connotations of an air accident. After all is this not what the air crash investigators look for after a disaster.

I am also concerned that with any impending ‘workfare’ programme, that the particpents will be not be able to be able to be told apart from those on the COMMUNITY PAYBACK as laid down by the courts,
as the same activities will be carried out by those on the WORKFARE. How will the DWP/Providers Assist those on the WORKFARE PROGRAMME to help them be disassociated from those on the Community Payback Scheme.

“How will the DWP/Providers Assist those on the WORKFARE PROGRAMME to help them be disassociated from those on the Community Payback Scheme.” Simple really, the bar code branded into the participants left arm will contain a programme identifying code.

The MAXIMUM amount of Community Payback that a Court can impose is 300 hours, Workfare at 35×26 = 910, over 3 times the maximum legal limit.

Workfare is PUNISHMENT, it’s not meant to rehabilitate lol, it’d be safe to assume that it will be done on the cheap, one way will be by sharing resources with the current Community Payback scheme, i.e. Workfare participants will just be tagged onto Community Payback gangs. Effective, simple and AND cheap. Unless you buy into the “individually tailored programme” bullshit, the only thing that will be individually tailored will be the fluorescent jacket – tailored by the victim.

I hope, rather than expect, that enough jobssekers allocated to Workfare still have enough dignity and self-respect left to take legal advice as to whether compelling them to do the same work as CRIMINALS sentenced to Community Payback is even legal.

Rmemeber, our government has fallen foul of European Human Rights legislation more times than any other EU country. So don’t there is nothing you can do.

When your family and friends ask what did you do to fight workfare. What will will say?

Exactly. Just because the UK Government passes Legislation does not mean it is competent within European Legislation. Likewise, just because the DWP/Provider mandate something (as in the case of abuse of the Data Protection Act) does not mean it is competent within UK Law.

I think it will begin to hit hard in people’s minds when someone finds that workfare ‘volunteers’ are doing work that was done by paid workers before the ‘cuts’.

I can forsee this happening.

Ipswich Borough Council has just got a job-freeze,, given the kind of people who run it I imagine they’d just love some scheme where they didn’t have to pay but still got people ‘volunteering’ to fill the gapsin their services.

It not only wont hit people’s minds, but people won’t care less until they lose their job through workfare. In fact, if anyone is forced into Workfare it should be to displace someone else’s job. Most people probably think Workfare is all about forcing the unemployed to dig ditches then filling them up next day, and they are quite happy to go along with that. In the USA Workfare has even replaced the the police. If we are going to have Workfare, let’s have someone else’s job, even an (ex)-union one 🙂

Black box just means that his Lordshit doesn’t give a flying spiderman what goes on on the schemes, he is not concerned with such trivialities as to how the participants are treated, respect for human rights…. Zzzz. Just so long as it gets a result.